NEWS RELEASE

The Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County (HSVB) is set to host two international veterinarians. Cheryl Tan of Malaysia and Delphine Nyirangwe Rwemalika will be serving a week-long internship at the Humane Society May 7-11. Both doctors will be learning about the latest advances in shelter medicine, adoption procedures, behavior and humane education programs. Coordinated by Humane Society International (HSI), the internship is designed to promote educational opportunities that can help animals globally. The program also allows for cultural exchange among shelter professionals, volunteers and community members.

Dr. Tan is a graduate of the University of Sydney, Australia. Upon graduation, she returned to Malaysia and now works for the Star Pets Animal Clinic/SPCA in Selangor, caring for shelter animals as well as spaying, neutering and vaccinating street animals. “I would love to be able to see everything – from how the shelter is run, public education programs…animal care, etc. I hope that what I have gained from the internship, I will be able to share certain points/new things that our organization could then implement in our own system,” she said of her upcoming visit to HSVB.

Dr. Nyirangwe Rwemalika manages All Creatures Animal Welfare Trust in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe. Her organization runs a shelter and humane education program with public animal care facilities in the cities of Lilongwe and Mzuzu. Dr. Nyirangwe Rwemalika is originally from Belgium, which is where she graduated from veterinary school in 2014, but she has also lived in Rwanda. “I would like to improve my skills in surgery and learn medicine from a different perspective,” Dr. Nyirangwe Rwemalika explained, adding that she’d also like to learn more about various shelter programs.

The HSVB previously hosted shelter professionals from Rwanda, Costa Rica, the Bahamas and South America.